Michigan
Northwestern
Wolverines Hang On for Series Sweep of Northwestern
2/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The University of Michigan women's basketball team pulled out its second straight road win of the season tonight (Thursday, Feb. 21) with a 63-59 win over Northwestern at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Michigan was led by 18 points from guard Alayne Ingram (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS) and 17 from backcourt mate Stephanie Gandy (Detroit, Mich./Northern HS). Center LeeAnn Bies (Lakeview, Mich./Lakeview HS) also provided Michigan a presence in the paint with 15 points and nine points despite being hampered by her injured pinky on her left hand.
| | Ingram |
Northwestern (4-22, 0-15 Big Ten) came right back with an 8-2 run of its own that featured back-to-back triples from Ayna Walker off the bench, and Michigan found itself leading by just two (19-17) with less than seven minutes left in the half. Michigan's lead still remained just two with three minutes left in the half until Ingram hit her second triple of the game to break the single-season Michigan three-point record. Ingram's 50th trifecta of the season broke the mark (49) set by Amy Johnson during the 1993-94 season.
Ingram's triple seemed to ignite the Wolverines as it started them on an 11-2 run that pushed their lead to double digits (35-24). The run also included a pair of jumpers from Gandy, who continued to be one of Michigan's best performers with 10 first-half points. Northwestern did manage the final hoop of the half to make the score 35-26 heading into intermission. Gandy was joined in the double-digit scoring column by Bies, who contributed a complete first half of 11 points, six rebounds and three assists.
Northwestern was actually fortunate to be within 10 points of Michigan at the break after turning the ball over 13 times and shooting just .345 (10-29) from the field. One reason it was still a ballgame at the break was Northwestern's ability to outrebound Michigan (20-16) even though the Wolverines entered the game as the conference's top rebounding team.
The first five minutes of the second half in this type of game are very important and it was Northwestern that took advantage with an 11-6 run over that time to cut Michigan's deficit to four (41-37). Northwestern did not stop there, scoring the next five points to take its first lead since early in the game when the Wildcats led 9-8. Northwestern made its run with behind freshman center Sarah Kwasinski, who scored six straight points at one point to start the Wildcat run.
Northwestern eventually pushed its lead to five (48-43) with just under 13 minutes left. At this point the game slowed to a crawl with the Wolverines cutting the deficit to one (49-48) with just over seven minutes remaining on a transition jumper from Ingram.
With Michigan still trailing by three (53-50) and less than six minutes left in the game, the Wolverines came up with one of their biggest possessions of the game. A missed turnaround jumper in the paint by Smith and missed putback by Bies was followed with another offensive board and hoop from Gandy, who was fouled on the play and converted, bringing Michigan back even at 53-53. Gandy followed that with a wing jumper in transition and after a pair of free throws from Ingram Michigan had closed a 7-0 run to lead 57-53 under the five-minute mark.
Michigan, however, was unable to put the game away in the final five minutes and led just 61-59 with less than 30 seconds left and Northwestern in possession of the ball. Michigan answered the challenge and forced Northwestern's 22nd and final turnover of the game with four seconds left. After a Wildcat foul, Ingram sank a pair of free throws to ice the win.
Michigan returns home for its final game of the 2002 regular season, against Penn State on Sunday (Feb. 24, 2 p.m.) at Crisler Arena. The contest will be the final regular-season home game for Michigan seniors Ingram, Susana Jara (Quito, Ecuador/Tustin HS, Calif.) and Heather Oesterle (Mason, Mich./Mason HS).
N O T E S
Alayne Ingram now holds Michigan school records for three-point field goals in a single season (50) and in a career (178).
Thursday's win gave the Wolverines a sweep of the home-and-home season series with the Wildcats for the second straight season. Michigan has won the last eight meetings between the two schools.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Sue Guevara
On the game overall ... "At this point in the season a win is a win and I will take whatever we can get. You have to give Northwestern a lot of credit, but we did make some plays down the stretch and pulled out the win."
On what she told her team after Northwestern took the lead in the second half ... "I was not happy with our defensive intensity in the second half and I felt we were letting Northwestern get the ball down low much too easily. I was also displeased with some of our turnovers during that stretch so I was a little heated during that timeout, but just a little."
On the key for Michigan ... "Alayne (Ingram) has been hitting big shots for us for the last couple of games and now I think (Stephanie) Gandy is getting the confidence to knock down shots and wants the ball. I also thought (LeeAnn) Bies was big for us with 15 points, nine boards and six on the offensive end, which is huge. She did that with a pretty painful pinky finger on her left hand."
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
